Damian Lillard Says Pat Connaughton was ‘Was the Middle Man’ in Getting Him to Milwaukee Bucks

Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokuonmpo teaming up was years in the making. For Milwaukee Bucks wing Pat Connaughton, that is.

Connaughton is in his sixth season with Milwaukee. However, he started his career as a teammate of Lillard's on the Portland Trail Blazers, with the All-Star guard saying in 2018 he was impressed with Connaughton's talent and basketball I.Q.

Once the Notre Dame alum joined the Bucks in the summer of 2018, he made a group chat with himself, Lillard and his newest star teammate -- Antetokuonmpo.

From there, Connaughton and Antetokuonmpo put on their recruiting hats.

"He was the middle man," Lillard said during an appearance on "Knuckleheads", a podcast hosted by former NBA players Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. "So we was [sic] in the group chat, all three of us, [Antetokuonmpo was] like 'Pat, tell him to come here.' He [was] like, 'Pat, no, tell Dame, he need to come to Milwaukee.'"

Eventually, Connaughton's work paid off, as Portland traded Lillard to Milwaukee (as part of a three-team deal involving the Phoenix Suns) in September.

So far, Lillard has not quite been himself from a statistical perspective -- if the season ended today, he would finish with career-lows in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage -- but the Bucks (9-4) are currently on a four-game win streak and sit in third place in the Eastern Conference.